Nashville Coffee Guide: 13 Specialty Shops, Roasters, and Cafes

Nashville coffee runs from East Bank across the river to Madison and Dickerson Pike. Surefire holds the East Bank build-out near the stadium. Madtown opened in 2021 on Gallatin Pike between the Madison library and the long stretch of strip-mall traffic that defines the corridor. Retrograde launched in 2018 on Dickerson Pike with a stated goal of being a true neighborhood cafe. Moonshot sits on Gay Street downtown in the TownePlace Suites lobby.

Below are four Nashville cafes drawn from the editorial coverage. The list runs from downtown out to the suburban edges, the geography Nashville coffee actually covers.

Surefire Coffee Co. - East Bank

299 Cowan St, Nashville, TN 37213, USA

Surefire East Bank sits on Cowan Street across the river from downtown Nashville, in the new build-out near the stadium where cranes still outnumber finished facades. Doors open at 6:30am for construction crews, dog walkers from the new apartments, and the first wave of remote workers looking for a desk. The bar runs Surefire's own roasts pulled clean through a modern espresso program, with pour overs and cold brew on rotation. The room is bright, plant-forward, and intentionally low on noise. By mid-morning regulars know each other by car and order. It is the kind of shop that opened because the neighborhood needed one and the neighborhood agreed. Order the cortado if you want espresso dialed for balance over volume. Order the cold brew if you walked the river path and want something cold for the way home.

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Madtown Coffee

516 Gallatin Pike

Madtown opened in 2021 on Gallatin Pike in Madison, sitting in a shopping center between the Madison library branch and the hair salon next door. Beans rotate through Asia, Africa, and South America origins, with a full plant-based milk lineup at the bar. The room runs warm with tables, counter chairs, a couple of couches, and rotating local art on the walls. Hours stretch into the evening, later than most East Nashville coffee. Pour overs, cold brew, and a frozen coffee anchor the menu. Order a single origin pour over if you want the cup the rotation is built around. Order a frozen coffee on a hot Madison afternoon if you want the drink that turns the strip mall location into a destination.

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Retrograde Coffee

1305 Dickerson Pike

Retrograde opened in 2018 on Dickerson Pike, the historic edge of East Nashville, with a stated goal of being a true neighborhood stop. The roastery now owns Ugly Mugs and runs locations in Germantown and Inglewood. Sourcing leans toward coffees that say something about a specific place and harvest, with single-varietal lots that get handled carefully through the roast. The bar pulls Retrograde beans alongside other Southeast roasters. Toasts, bagels, and pastries cover the food side. Order a single origin pour over if you want the cup the roastery's reputation is built on. Order a latte and a toast if you want the East Nashville morning as Retrograde regulars run it.

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moonshot coffee bar

300 Gay St, Nashville, TN 37201, USA

Moonshot sits on Gay Street in downtown Nashville, on the ground floor of the TownePlace Suites in the Capitol District. The program roasts its own beans, leaning fair trade and organic where the lots line up, and the menu runs the full breakfast and lunch service alongside coffee. The vibe is bohemian rather than country, art on the walls, the bar staff loose and quick. Mornings draw downtown Nashville workers, hotel guests on the way to meetings, and locals who learned the room is open to the street even though it lives inside a hotel lobby. The pace stays steady through lunch. Order a house blend drip if you came for the cup Moonshot pours the same way every morning. Order a cappuccino if you want to see what their roast does in milk before you commit to a bag.

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A Nashville coffee day that starts at Surefire on the East Bank, runs a Retrograde drip on Dickerson Pike, and ends at Moonshot on Gay Street downtown is three Nashville registers in one day. The Pulled directory tracks every specialty cafe across the metro with check-in radius for the iOS app.

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